[Study on the genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms for a large number of samples by three-dimensional polyacrylamide gel-based microarray method].

OBJECTIVE: To genotype single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a large number of samples by applying three-dimensional polyacrylamide gel-based microarray. METHODS: The method relies on copolymerization of acrylamide-modified PCR products with acrylamide monomers and acryl-modified slides to prepare gel-based microarray. Then array is hybridized with a pair of specific probes and the two universal dual-color fluorescent detectors labeled with Cy3 or Cy5 respectively (Tag1 and Tag2). Electrophoresis is used in post-hybridization to remove the nonspecifically bound targets and mismatches. Finally, genotyping is based on the images captured through two-color fluorescent scanning. RESULTS: The 3-D gel-immobilization of nucleic acids has a high immobilization yield and good hybridization efficiency. As universal dual-color fluorescent detectors are used, it is not required that specific probes be labeled for all SNPs, therefore the expense for synthesis can be reduced considerably. Electrophoresis in post-hybridization can enhance the capability for discriminating a single nucleotide mismatch from the perfectly matched sequence and improve the signal-to-noise ratio significantly. CONCLUSION: The gel-based microarray is a rapid, simple and high-throughput method for SNPs genotyping and may be very competitive in the efficiency, fidelity and cost for constructing DNA microarrays, which will hold significant promise for applications in human DNA diagnostics.

An improved gel-based DNA microarray method for detecting single nucleotide mismatch.

3-D polyacrylamide gel-based DNA microarray platforms provide a high capacity for nucleic acids immobilization and a solution-mimicking environment for hybridization. However, several technological bottlenecks still remain in these platforms, such as difficult microarray preparation and high fluorescent background, which limit their application. In this study, two new approaches have been developed to improve the convenience in microarray preparation and to reduce the background after hybridization. To control the polymerization process, solutions containing acrylamide-modified oligonucleotide, acrylamide, glycerol and ammonium persulfate are spotted onto a functionalized glass slide, and then the slide is transferred to a vacuum chamber with TEMED, so that TEMED is vaporized and diffused into the spots to induce polymerization. By applying an electric field across a hybridized microarray to remove the nonspecifically bound labeled targets, this approach can solve the problem of high fluorescent background of the gel-based microarray after hybridization. Experimental results show that our immobilization method can be used to construct high quality microarrays and exhibits good reproducibility. Moreover, the polymerization is not affected by PCR medium, so that PCR products can be used for microarray construction without being treated by commercial purification cartridges. Electrophoresis can improve the signal-to-noise significantly and has the ability to differentiate single nucleotide variation between two homozygotes and a heterozygote. Our results demonstrated that this is a reliable novel method for high-throughput mutation analysis and disease diagnosis.